The Truth Lies Here

by Lindsey Klingele

In small town Michigan, Penny, an aspiring journalist, teams up with the nerdy boy-next-door and the town’s star quarterback to find her conspiracy theorist father after he goes missing and several other townspeople turn up dead in the woods.The deeper she digs, the weirder things start to get. Townspeople repeat the same phrases—verbatim. Men in black suits stroll around Main Street. Chunks of her memory go missing. Pretty soon, Penny’s research leads her to the long-ago meteorite crash in Bone Lake’s woods, and she’s going to have to reconsider her definition of “real” if she wants answers. . . .

The Truth Lies Here Details

The Truth Lies Here Review

January 1, 1970

Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads)

Penny is back in her hometown of Bone Lake, Michigan for the summer prepared to write her college essay on the decline of the town after the military pulled their major contract causing the local factory to close several years ago. Her dad doesn't show to pick her up at the airport, which doesn't surprise Penny who is used to be letting down by him. Dexter, the literal boy next door, picks her up and delivers her to her door, worried that her dad has seemingly disappeared.Penny brushes it off Penny is back in her hometown of Bone Lake, Michigan for the summer prepared to write her college essay on the decline of the town after the military pulled their major contract causing the local factory to close several years ago. Her dad doesn't show to pick her up at the airport, which doesn't surprise Penny who is used to be letting down by him. Dexter, the literal boy next door, picks her up and delivers her to her door, worried that her dad has seemingly disappeared.Penny brushes it off as the normal flakey behavior of a conspiracy theorist. Her dad has made his career selling blurry photos of bears and passing them off as Big Foot in lame magazines. On top of that, just before the factory closed a giant meteorite crashed in the nearby woods and since then strange lights have appeared that her dad now attributes to The Visitors (i.e. aliens).She figures her dad is gone on another story for the magazine and begins research for her own story by asking the locals what they remember about the factory closing and the impact its had on the town. Things take a strange turn when their vague answers all conclude with the same line: "It's best not to think too much about it."Soon dead bodies are turning up in the woods, burned beyond recognition. Penny and Dexter team up like the new Mulder and Scully in search of Penny's dad who may actually be on to a huge (not to mention real) story for once. The fact that he's missing during the time bodies are piling up makes him a person of interest for the Sheriff, who's also holding an old grudge against him.Penny knows there's a connection between the meteorite crash and the factory closing but when she goes to investigate, she wakes up on her back porch hours later with no memory of how she got there. A natural skeptic, she has to grudgingly admit that maybe her dad isn't the complete fraud she's made him about to be most of her life. She has to solve the mysteries of the burned bodies and strange lights in the woods in order to clear her dad's name ...and she still has to find him.Full of major pop culture vibes (Stranger Things meets The X-Files meets Men in Black), The Truth Lies Here has a love triangle, a fractured father-daughter relationship, and a creepy supernatural mystery begging to be solved by the teenagers who obviously know more about what's going on than the adults do.This was a fun YA read with a storyline that's obviously been done before yet remains entertaining! Thanks to HarperTeen and Edelweiss for a DRC in exchange for my honest review. The Truth Lies Here is scheduled for release on August 21, 2018.For more full reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com

When I saw the tag line of “Stranger Things meets Men in Black” I was 100000% here for it. Sadly, it was fairly disappointing for me. I liked Penny well enough. Her struggle to fit back into a small town life felt realistic and I really enjoyed her tenacity. Dex was sort of adorable and I would have liked something a bit more tangible between them. There are a few other characters, but no one really stood out. Plot wise it lagged a bit. I was all in on this concept, but at the halfway point, I c When I saw the tag line of “Stranger Things meets Men in Black” I was 100000% here for it. Sadly, it was fairly disappointing for me. I liked Penny well enough. Her struggle to fit back into a small town life felt realistic and I really enjoyed her tenacity. Dex was sort of adorable and I would have liked something a bit more tangible between them. There are a few other characters, but no one really stood out. Plot wise it lagged a bit. I was all in on this concept, but at the halfway point, I could have easily set the book down and never finished it. The story lacked the tension and build up I expected and though the reveal was mildly interesting, by then I was just ready for it to be over. Overall, it was an intriguing idea, but the execution just didn’t work for me. **Huge thanks to Harper Teen for providing the arc free of charge**

I must admit that this just hasn’t been the best reading year for me so far. Many of my recent reads have turned out to be disappointing to put it kindly. Sadly, The Truth Lies Here was not the exception.The story follows Penny, she needs a big story to include in her college application. So, she heads back to her hometown to interview people about a tragic event that happened many years ago. Around the time of her arrival, a series of mysterious murders start to happen. And the circumstances on I must admit that this just hasn’t been the best reading year for me so far. Many of my recent reads have turned out to be disappointing to put it kindly. Sadly, The Truth Lies Here was not the exception.The story follows Penny, she needs a big story to include in her college application. So, she heads back to her hometown to interview people about a tragic event that happened many years ago. Around the time of her arrival, a series of mysterious murders start to happen. And the circumstances on which they occur suggests that there might be more to them than what meets the eye. On top of that, her dad goes missing, and nobody seems to care enough to go looking for him. So, when the police fail to provide a believable explanation, she decides to take matters into her own hands.I was so excited when I learned I had been approved for an ARC. I’m a big fan of The X Files (which is constantly mentioned in the book), and I hadn't read any mysteries recently. In fact, I hadn't read any mysteries in a pretty long while.I didn't have particularly high expectation for this book though, but I was still hoping to enjoy it. Which only makes my experience bleaker.Penny was just… Bland, to say the least. Her entire personality is based on how disappointed she is of her dad. He sells stories for a living, the paranormal kind, about bigfoot and the yeti and aliens. When she was a kid she had the impression that he really believed in all these things. But after an accident she learnt that he only pursues them because they pay his bills. It was kind of the end of the world as she knew it. And everything that happened to her after it seems to derive from it.She wants to be a journalist to uncover the truth, it’s her passion, supposedly, and yet there doesn't seem to be anything else that she likes about it, but the fact that it's the opposite of what her dad does.She's obsessed with this idea of “The Truth” that she has. Where the world is always black or white, and people are either good and honest or bad and liars. She's naive like that. And her being so very sorry for all these poor people trapped in a small town, who will never the see the lights of the big city, was beyond annoying.And in case her disdain for her dad's lifestyle wasn't obvious the first time around, she also manages to find a way to comment on it every ten minutes.I grew tired of her quickly. Which sucks, because you're stuck with her for the entire book. I think it could have been bearable if at least one of the other characters were interesting. But they were more of the same, which takes me to the thing that really killed this book for me.There is (drum rolls, please) a Love Triangle! Yes, with capital letters, because it's exactly the kind of love triangle that should be trademarked by YA authors. That is, the one between a girl and two guys, one of which is a best friend, skinny and geeky, opposite to the other, who is the crush, perfect in every way.Please know that the mystery element was not nearly enough to make up for Penny figuring out of the two guys liked her. While also letting you know that all these strange things that are happening are indeed, very strange. It made the entire book feel juvenile, and took the seriousness away from the main issue, which were the murders.I went through seventy percent of the book or so until I realized I didn't care enough to keep reading. I wouldn't recommend it, as you can tell. There must be better YA mystery books out there.I’d like to thank the publisher and Edelweiss for providing this ARC.INSTAGRAM | BLOG | PINTEREST | GOODREADS

Rating: 4.5 StarsA throughly compelling coming-of-age story laced with mystery and a touch of Sci-fi. Confession: I read this one by accident, so it will be quite a while before I post my full review. Until then, know that I only have good things to say about this book. Full review to follow. *ARC provided in exchange for an honest review. BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS

I really dug this book. A little bit strange, but a lot of fun, I kept reading up until the wee hours to see how everything was going to be resolved. The sci-fi angle was written in a way that made the book feel grounded. I loved the main character and enjoyed the mystery as well as her complex romantic and familial relationships. 5 Star Read for sure.

ARC provided by the publisher vis Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. 4/5 stars for The Truth Lies Here! I had so much fun reading this book! I'm not going to lie, I requested this book 100% based on the fact that it's set in Michigan. That being said, I could not remember anything about the synopsis. This book is kind of like Stranger Things meets Men in Black meets the X-files - which is awesome. HOWEVER, aliens aren't REALLY my thing. Luckily, there was so much to love about this book ARC provided by the publisher vis Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. 4/5 stars for The Truth Lies Here! I had so much fun reading this book! I'm not going to lie, I requested this book 100% based on the fact that it's set in Michigan. That being said, I could not remember anything about the synopsis. This book is kind of like Stranger Things meets Men in Black meets the X-files - which is awesome. HOWEVER, aliens aren't REALLY my thing. Luckily, there was so much to love about this book that I hardly noticed.WHAT I LOVED:-The setting. I already kind of mentioned this, but I love ANYTHING set in Michigan - added bonus when the MC flies into the Traverse City airport, which I've been to many times! I always love seeing the little tidbits, names, and places that I recognize. It really adds to the story for me.-Dex. Dex was my all-time favorite character in this book. He was light-hearted and fun, and I loved how he believed in all things supernatural with abandon. Above all of this, he was truly kind, and a loyal friend to both Penny and her father. Some of his scenes with Penny and with his Mom were, in my opinion, the most powerful to read. PLUS, I totally ship Dex and Penny - I love childhood friends to lovers storylines!-Penny's character arc and development. I love how this book shows what it's like to go from a teenager, focused solely on your own problems, and on YOUR truth, to growing into a young adult - where your parents become actual PEOPLE, with other lives and problems. Penny learns throughout her search for the truth and for her father that there is more than one side to every story, and that her truth isn't necessarily everyone's truth. She learns that the world isn't simply black and white, and has to part with her beloved facts, learning that those facts may be slightly different for everyone. I liked Penny more and more as the story went on, and that's a rare thing for me with MC's. -The pacing. This book started with a mystery and kept you guessing until the last couple chapters. I did NOT guess any of the twists at the end, which makes it even better. I had a few sneaking suspicions, but only one of them turned out to be right. This was a quick read and a total page-turner.WHAT I DIDN'T:-Love triangles. For the most part, I HATE love triangles, and this book definitely had one. I will say, I ended up liking both of the boys, but definitely shipped one more - and trusted one less. -Like I said, despite loving Stranger Things, alien tales aren't really my thing. Luckily, this ended up being a smaller part of the plot than I thought it'd be. Besides that, I LOVED THIS BOOK.Release date is August 21 - you won't want to miss this one.

I excited by the premise of The Truth Lies Here: a girl who wants to get into journalism school and has a father who is a conspiracy theorist. Penny Hardjoy (lol - does she sound like a Bond Girl or what?) leaves Chicago to spend the summer with her father in the small midwestern town where she lived until her parents spilt up. She plans to do research on the ways a plant closing impacted the residents' lives and instead gets embroiled in an X-Files style whodunit. Her father is missing, as are I excited by the premise of The Truth Lies Here: a girl who wants to get into journalism school and has a father who is a conspiracy theorist. Penny Hardjoy (lol - does she sound like a Bond Girl or what?) leaves Chicago to spend the summer with her father in the small midwestern town where she lived until her parents spilt up. She plans to do research on the ways a plant closing impacted the residents' lives and instead gets embroiled in an X-Files style whodunit. Her father is missing, as are a couple of local teens. Then we find out that a meteorite hit town about 15 years prior and things have been weird since then. So Penny - assisted at times by two guys, one a dreamy football player, one a more awkward guy-next door - soon ditches her planned story and starts trying to find her father.Definitely a little bit of a Stranger Things/X-Files vibe. I wish the suspense had been ramped up more throughout. I wanted a little more fleshing-out on the paranormal stuff. There is a tiny bit of romance. Despite the two guys, the vibe didn't seem that triangle-y, if that is an issue for you.Worth a try if you are looking for something with a paranormal bent!Read more of my reviews on JenRyland.com! Check out my Bookstagram! Or check out my Jen In Ten reviews on Youtube - get the lowdown on current books in 10-30 seconds!Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!

*Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!*”To believe blindly is to get burned, and I was smarter than that now. I knew better.”Along with openly being a love letter to her childhood growing up in Michigan, this book was also a love letter to small town sleuthing, murder mysteries, and of course, good old science fiction flicks about aliens. While very little of this book was not following some well worn troupes, I enjoyed every page.Penny serves as *Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!*”To believe blindly is to get burned, and I was smarter than that now. I knew better.”Along with openly being a love letter to her childhood growing up in Michigan, this book was also a love letter to small town sleuthing, murder mysteries, and of course, good old science fiction flicks about aliens. While very little of this book was not following some well worn troupes, I enjoyed every page.Penny serves as a human example of the saying “curiosity killed the cat.” Her best friend growing up, Dex, is aware of how large our universe truly is and prepared to advocate for extraterrestrials. There are also a few caricatures of people: the cute guy on the football team, Micah, the bitter beauty, Reese, and a few other high school cliches. Add in Penny’s father, a recently missing journalist whose articles are anything but pragmatic, and you’ve got an idea of this book.With some hysterical one-liners, good old adventure and suspense, and surprisingly down-to-earth moments for a novel dealing with not-of-this-world topics, this was a quick, engaging read that left me smiling and smirking. Perfect read for fans of oddball books that take stereotypical ingredients but manage to whip up something unique and quippy. Highly recommend. ”You’re not an idiot for believing in something you wanted to be true.”

Stranger Things + Men in Black + The X-Files = Mandy's heart beating wildly, because it's like the author took everything I ever wanted out of my brain and put it into pages. Now, if Bigfoot could just pop out of the forest on that cover, I would become Deceased by Book. August, why you gotta be so far away.

Penny is supposed to spend summer vacations with her distant supernatural journalist father. When she reaches the small town she grew up before the nasty divorce, he is nowhere. She's sure she's been ignored or forgotten because of some unbelievable story but things in town seem too out of place.I hadn't noticed before but this book has a lot to do with X Files, which should have been obvious even from the title. Like Scully, Penny is a non-believer who needs to pair up with one too-gullible-to- Penny is supposed to spend summer vacations with her distant supernatural journalist father. When she reaches the small town she grew up before the nasty divorce, he is nowhere. She's sure she's been ignored or forgotten because of some unbelievable story but things in town seem too out of place.I hadn't noticed before but this book has a lot to do with X Files, which should have been obvious even from the title. Like Scully, Penny is a non-believer who needs to pair up with one too-gullible-to-be-taken-seriously nerdy boy in order to complete her investigation and find her father. Still, it's nothing close to a retelling, just maybe a homage?I confess I expected more excitement. This was kinda funny, kinda mysterious and things did happen in spite of being YA—meaning, people died here and in a gross manner. But it was lacking in all ways. I understood why Penny held it against her father, for example, and geez he left her all alone for some probably fake story. And yet, I couldn't relate.This illustrates my whole experience: I was supposed to like it more but the fact is that it was too lukewarm.The conclusion isn't bad, though. I wasn't fully expecting all that and it kept me wondering what it would come out to be. Really, this is a nice book. It just lacked here and there and some more. Perhaps, it'll spike more interest from sci-fi lovers?Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Stranger Things, The X-Files and Men in Black make a compelling mix in The Truth Lies Here.

January 1, 1970

Kathy Martin

Penny Hardjoy is spending the summer with her father in Bone Lake, Michigan, while her mother is on sabbatical in Spain. Until she was ten years old, her father was her hero. She went with him on hunts for Bigfoot and loved all of his stories about supernatural creatures. But seeing him take a picture of a bear and call it Bigfoot and walking in on him kissing her best friend's mother tarnished his role as her hero. When her mother divorced him, she was glad to go with her Mom to Chicago. Her di Penny Hardjoy is spending the summer with her father in Bone Lake, Michigan, while her mother is on sabbatical in Spain. Until she was ten years old, her father was her hero. She went with him on hunts for Bigfoot and loved all of his stories about supernatural creatures. But seeing him take a picture of a bear and call it Bigfoot and walking in on him kissing her best friend's mother tarnished his role as her hero. When her mother divorced him, she was glad to go with her Mom to Chicago. Her disillusionment with her father's stories has turned Penny into someone who believes only in black and white and truth only with evidence. When Penny arrives in town, her father is missing which makes her angry first and worried second. Her childhood friend Dex has become her father's new disciple and devoted believer of all his stories. He is worried about where her father is but Penny keeps looking for logical reasons for his absence. No matter how much Penny wants things to be black and white, weird things are happening in Bone Lake.The local plant closed a few years ago and Penny wants to interview the residents about the decline of the town but she keeps hearing the same thing - the exact same thing - from everyone she interviews. Then two kids she knew disappeared and she stumbles onto their burned bodies which is eerily similar to the burned body of a hiker that was found earlier by her father.The story is filled with mystery and the tension keeps ramping up as the story progresses. Penny also grows and changes through the course of the story. Fans of fast-paced mysteries with a twist will enjoy this story.

Penny's parents are divorced after she discovered something that destroyed her friendship with her best friend. She gets to spend her vacation time with her father in the small town she grew up, but when she arrives she finds out her father isn't home. At first she believes he is hunting down another story. He is a journalist who spends all his time searching for mysterious and otherworldly stories; like his claim about the 'Others' who came to earth with the meteor that crashed in the woods. Bu Penny's parents are divorced after she discovered something that destroyed her friendship with her best friend. She gets to spend her vacation time with her father in the small town she grew up, but when she arrives she finds out her father isn't home. At first she believes he is hunting down another story. He is a journalist who spends all his time searching for mysterious and otherworldly stories; like his claim about the 'Others' who came to earth with the meteor that crashed in the woods. But when he doesn't show up in a long time, Penny teams up with her old nerdy friend to find out what happened to him.Penny struggles with her feelings towards her father and that was a very believable aspect in the book. It gave the story extra depth, because slowly Penny comes to the realization she doesn't treat him fairly. The plot has a chilling setting, with a town where people disappear and where nobody seems to notice something strange is going on. I liked how Penny and her friend worked together to figure out what is going on and I was actually surprised by the conclusion. I thought the author was going to take a different approach, so I really liked that!

I just read the first two chapters via the Epic Reads Sneak Peak and HOLY CRAP. Does pre-ordering a book two days before release count as not breaking a book ban? Asking for a friend.

January 1, 1970

Courtney

Y'all. this book was SO good. I didn't get this ARC from a publisher or anything, I actually got it for free from a little indie bookstore in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina while on Vacation because when you buy from them, you can choose to pick out an ARC. This one seemed the most promising so I gave it a try and I am so glad that I did.---This was a super quick read for me and I throughly enjoyed every second of it, I got Stranger Things vibes as well as some X-files vibes thrown in there as well. Y'all. this book was SO good. I didn't get this ARC from a publisher or anything, I actually got it for free from a little indie bookstore in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina while on Vacation because when you buy from them, you can choose to pick out an ARC. This one seemed the most promising so I gave it a try and I am so glad that I did.---This was a super quick read for me and I throughly enjoyed every second of it, I got Stranger Things vibes as well as some X-files vibes thrown in there as well. I won't say too much because spoilers, but this was an awesome read and if you need to read something a bit different to spice up your reading life, I would highly suggest checking this out when it drops on August 21st!

Plot:Penelope, who prefers the nickname Penny, lost faith in her father, Ike Hardjoy, at ten years old. When she used to believe all the fairy tales he told her, about werewolves, Nessie, fairies, all wandering around the woods waiting to be discovered. When hunting for Bigfoot, and found a black bear instead, her father used the blur out photos of the bear, claiming it to be Bigfoot. Losing the faith his daughter had in him during the process. Yet, that writing mindset never left Penny, and as Plot:Penelope, who prefers the nickname Penny, lost faith in her father, Ike Hardjoy, at ten years old. When she used to believe all the fairy tales he told her, about werewolves, Nessie, fairies, all wandering around the woods waiting to be discovered. When hunting for Bigfoot, and found a black bear instead, her father used the blur out photos of the bear, claiming it to be Bigfoot. Losing the faith his daughter had in him during the process. Yet, that writing mindset never left Penny, and as she and her mother left Ike in Bone Lake Michigan for a life in Chicago, being a journalist is something Penny always wanted to do. When apply to university, Penny has the perfect article that will get her in: an in-depth study of the economic crash in Bone Lake Michigan after the plastic plant shut down due to a death. Everything cited, some quotes, fancy graphs show her data, Penny knew this would get her in. Yet there was one thing missing, a human element, something that would make readers feel for the Bone Lake citizens, and therefore gave Penny a reason to visit her father. From an interview to the elder residents who knew the plastic plant in its prime, to the younger ones who did not. Penny real goal was to interview Micah, her middle school crush, and whose father was Hal Jamison, the person who died that caused the plant to shut down. When her father fails to pick Penny up at the airport, she just assumes he left on a short camping trip to find another bear as Bigfoot. When days past and still no Ike, Penny began asking the townsfolk about the power plant getting the same response from everyone: “It’s best not to think so much about it” (41). No dad, creepy responses from the people who saw her grow up, Penny knew something was missing in this small town. With a shiny black car following her where she goes, Penny must become a true report and discover the truth about her tiny hick hometown.Thoughts:Lindsey Klingele wrote this sci-fi / monster mystery to be a bit of a thriller. With a prolog that captures the horror fans at heart, the book escalates quickly downhill from that. Penny is just a plain girl, who has nothing truly special going for her, besides what her dad does for a living. Diving into government secrets, this ‘Area 51 is where they hide the UFOs’ dad publishes his articles in the magazine Strange World. Since age 10, Penny has realized her father was a nut job, therefore the whole story was a coming-of-age, realizing maybe her father was onto something, and the world cannot be divided into a black and white category. Side story lines of the reason why her parents got divorced, why Reese hates her, best friend from childhood Dex turning into a cutie, gave the story more plot, and a bit of depth to Penny. When the light shine on the monster at the end, all ends are tied nicely up, Klingele gives this book a proper send off, and even broadens our minds to what is truly out there. After all, this planet, and even our solar system, is a very strange place to live.

THE TRUTH LIES HERE by Lindsey Klingele is a young adult, sci-fi novel set in Bone Lake, Michigan. This little town is the last place Penny wants to spend her entire summer, but her mom’s on a sabbatical in Spain and Penny needs quotes from Bone Lake residents for her college admissions essay. Determined to get into Northwestern, Penny lands at the airport on a mission, but finds herself stranded when Ike, her father, never arrives to pick her up. Days pass without any word from him, and Penny s THE TRUTH LIES HERE by Lindsey Klingele is a young adult, sci-fi novel set in Bone Lake, Michigan. This little town is the last place Penny wants to spend her entire summer, but her mom’s on a sabbatical in Spain and Penny needs quotes from Bone Lake residents for her college admissions essay. Determined to get into Northwestern, Penny lands at the airport on a mission, but finds herself stranded when Ike, her father, never arrives to pick her up. Days pass without any word from him, and Penny starts to get nervous. It’s not entirely unusual for Ike to get caught up chasing a story, but Dex, Penny’s childhood friend and Michigan neighbor, is convinced Ike’s in trouble. When the town sheriff makes Ike a person of interest in a murder investigation, Penny and Dex launch their own search to clear Ike’s name and bring him home to safety. What they find, however, neither of them could have ever expected.This book reminds me so much of 80’s horror films and will appeal to fans of that genre. From the couple who dies in the opening pages while hooking up to the major twist at the end, it’s very nostalgic. Though this story has sci-fi elements and is not technically a slasher, I still felt scared reading it. My favorite element of this book is the characters. They are all so distinctive with their individual quirks and behaviors. I love that Ike is dedicated to fabricated stories of the supernatural and Penny, on the flip side, wants real, hard facts. Their opposing needs create real conflict and the necessity of meeting in the middle. Klingele also does a great job at making sure the backstory enhances and develops the characters. She never delivers it as a boring information dump, but instead susses out the perfect moment to introduce past situations that are relevant to the reader. I particularly love the story about Penny, Dex, and Reese throwing out their books when they were younger. It opens up a deeper vulnerability in Dex and shows the readers how he fits into society and Bone Lake on a whole. Overall, THE TRUTH LIES HERE is a well-written ode to small-town life and a reminder to leave space for the unbelievable.Review originally published on YA Books Central: http://www.yabookscentral.com/yaficti...

This is a great pick for a rainy, dark night when you want a book that has a bit of a creepy factor to it. Or at any time, but it has that definite feel of a dark night read. It was fairly quick to read, fast paced, it kept my interest through the whole book. It did have some twists I found predictable but that could be because it reminded me of Supernatural or The X-Files, two shows I've watched so many times I question everything when a book reminds me of them.The whole book was through Penny' This is a great pick for a rainy, dark night when you want a book that has a bit of a creepy factor to it. Or at any time, but it has that definite feel of a dark night read. It was fairly quick to read, fast paced, it kept my interest through the whole book. It did have some twists I found predictable but that could be because it reminded me of Supernatural or The X-Files, two shows I've watched so many times I question everything when a book reminds me of them.The whole book was through Penny's POV, an aspiring journalist student hoping to use her childhood hometown as the backdrop to a human interest piece that she was sure would put her application over the top. Except her dad never showed to get her at the airport. I could understand her lack of concern at first, she was used to her father putting his work above everything else and they were on complete opposite sides of the journalism spectrum. It made for an interesting relationship even with her father being absent.There was a bit of a love triangle between Penny, her childhood best friend Dex, and her childhood crush Micah, but it never overtook the story. Both boys added something different to the plot but I was leaning more toward Dex, the geeky best friend who loved conspiracy theories and The X-Files and who was by Penny's side through her whole investigation, believing in the impossible even when she didn't. I thought Micah was a good way to show how much Penny had changed from the girl who lived in Bone Lake as a child. The plot focused on Penny's father's disappearance and her and Dex's investigation. It was fast paced and there was a lot of back and forth as they argued over a realistic explanation vs a paranormal one. The more they investigated, the more strange things they uncovered, which led to more questions. Some of the twists were predictable, as mentioned, but they were still enjoyable. *I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Penny grew up a bit like Luna Lovegood under the influence of her father, Ike, who writes for one of those conspiracy magazines, that talk about UFOs and bigfoots (bigfeet?). That is until she learns that he doesn't actually believe in any of it and is just trying to make money. After this betrayal, another one, and her parents' divorce, Penny leaves Bone Lake behind.Penny wants to be a hard-hitting journalist, and she's planning to get into the college program of her dreams with an article abou Penny grew up a bit like Luna Lovegood under the influence of her father, Ike, who writes for one of those conspiracy magazines, that talk about UFOs and bigfoots (bigfeet?). That is until she learns that he doesn't actually believe in any of it and is just trying to make money. After this betrayal, another one, and her parents' divorce, Penny leaves Bone Lake behind.Penny wants to be a hard-hitting journalist, and she's planning to get into the college program of her dreams with an article about the economic decline of her hometown while she's there with her father for three weeks of the summer. Which, of course, means that she gets embroiled in the mystery of dead bodies and her dad's disappearance, one which may be fantastical.The Truth Lies Here intentionally straddles genres to make the reader want to keep flipping to find out what's going on. The ultimate resolution was, to me, somewhat unsatisfying, but this gambit did keep me moving through the book.Penny's narrative voice worked for me, but the other characters felt a bit more distant. Her eventual romance was cute, but I would have liked a bit less of the love triangle.

Full Review below:Many thanks to EdelweissPlus and the publisher for providing me with an eARC for review. All opinions are my own. This was a strong stand-alone science fiction piece. Especially for those readers who enjoy "classic" science fiction: aliens, bigfoot, sightings, etc INSTEAD of the more recent/common dystopian tropes. Penny, a high school junior who is looking to become a journalist, is headed to her father's for the summer She doesn't know what to expect from spending a whole sum Full Review below:Many thanks to EdelweissPlus and the publisher for providing me with an eARC for review. All opinions are my own. This was a strong stand-alone science fiction piece. Especially for those readers who enjoy "classic" science fiction: aliens, bigfoot, sightings, etc INSTEAD of the more recent/common dystopian tropes. Penny, a high school junior who is looking to become a journalist, is headed to her father's for the summer She doesn't know what to expect from spending a whole summer in the small town she grew up in, but she knows she doesn't want to spend too much time with her dad. He no longer impresses her, not since she realized that he KNEW the sasquatch he was chasing was really a black bear, and he didn't have any problems selling photos to the contrary.But now, as she interviews townspeople for her story about the factory plant that closed years ago, and the economic strain on the town, things get weird. People don't want to talk about it. They repeat the same strange sayings word for word. And people are going missing and turning up dead, burned beyond recognition. Maybe Penny's dad wasn't wrong about the Visitors, the aliens he thinks landed years ago when a meteorite crashed in the woods. But Penny doesn't want to believe that. But the more she digs, the more she wonders if maybe there is something more to the story.Recommend for grades 7 and up.

#Edelweiss #TheTruthLiesHere #MustReadYAOkay..I'm a sucker for the X-files, so when I read the title and the synopsis I knew I had to read it. The main character Penny has the mystery of trying to find her missing father. Plus, she can't remember certain things and now mysterious "men in black" have come to their small town. Penny and Dex become the Mulder and Scully of Bone Lake to try to figure out what is really going on. I loved the addition of the meteorite in the woods, aliens, and family #Edelweiss #TheTruthLiesHere #MustReadYAOkay..I'm a sucker for the X-files, so when I read the title and the synopsis I knew I had to read it. The main character Penny has the mystery of trying to find her missing father. Plus, she can't remember certain things and now mysterious "men in black" have come to their small town. Penny and Dex become the Mulder and Scully of Bone Lake to try to figure out what is really going on. I loved the addition of the meteorite in the woods, aliens, and family issues. The book should be a series because the main characters have amazing chemistry on the page. A definite must read!

Oh, this was a fantastic book, I loved the mystery, and the investigation, and these characters! Such a great story!

January 1, 1970

Jackie

*3.5 but rounding up*What I like most about books that deal with the paranormal or in this case science fiction, is when there is a human element brought in keeping it grounded to reality just enough that you don’t go too far off into the deep end and this book managed to do that by connecting our main players by their attachments to their father. ‘The Truth Lies Here’ has a cold open reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or more appropriately X-Files giving you just enough of a tease that som *3.5 but rounding up*What I like most about books that deal with the paranormal or in this case science fiction, is when there is a human element brought in keeping it grounded to reality just enough that you don’t go too far off into the deep end and this book managed to do that by connecting our main players by their attachments to their father. ‘The Truth Lies Here’ has a cold open reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or more appropriately X-Files giving you just enough of a tease that something strange is going on without spoiling the mystery at the heart of the novel. Our main character Penny returns home for the summer working an angle focused on facts for her journalistic piece that will serve as her admissions essay for college, a far cry from her father’s fantastical tales of Bigfoot and aliens that grace the covers of conspiracy magazines that he himself writes for. Her story is quickly derailed when her father turns out to be missing and with bodies piling up he quickly goes from victim to person of interest as Penny and her childhood friend Dex team up to try to find her father and get answers to all of their questions once and for all. Dex was an absolute angel this entire story, he fills the role of boy next door turned apprentice to Penny’s father and each moment with him was a highlight. Seeing his emotions and desperation for finding answers to not only help Penny reconcile with her father but to also help him achieve the same peace with his own was heartbreaking. I know this is a sci fi novel with hints of an alien and government coverup backdrop, however, the overall theme of how children perceive their fathers as hero’s only to grow up and have to realize they’re human and make mistakes was very real and seeing how each character managed to succeed or fail in handling that revelation had more of an impact on me than the actual alien stuff and I don’t know if it’s because that part was done better with more focus lent to those relationships to build up the mystery than the conspiracy itself although, I will say the twist was very well done but even then that aided the father/child relationship arc more than the extra terrestrial. This is a fun and quick read for anyone looking for something a bit different with a taste of the unusual with the making of a duo Scully and Mulder would be proud of and though I’m not sure if there will be any more books I think there’s plenty of chemistry there and the makings of a great team that could hold their own while looking for the truth, wherever it may be. **big thanks to the publishers and edelweiss for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review!**